Remember Econ-101 from back in your freshman days? All those cool new economics terms, supply & demand, elasticity,commodities, Keynesian theory? Well, we would like to apply them to the irrigation industry and explain to you why there has never been a better time to purchase an automatic lawn sprinkler system for your home. After we’re finished, we think you’ll agree that you really cannot afford to “not” buy one!

Let us take a step back in time… the year is 2005. The U.S. economy is churning away at a break neck pace. The Wall Street financial collapse had never crossed anyone’s mind. Consumers had lots of disposable income and were buying all sorts of products large and small, including lots and lots of sprinkler systems. Demand was high, supply was low… Rainbird could charge a premium for their lawn sprinkler heads and nobody would bat an eyebrow.

Now add to the mix Hurricane Katrina and the devastation to all the oil drilling platforms and oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. Gasoline prices shot thru the roof and approached $5.00 per gallon. It seemed like the cost of everything was hyper-inflating, including the cost of sprinkler parts. You may or may not know this but the bulk of sprinkler parts are made from plastics(polyvinylchloride, polybutylene, etc…) which happen to be manufactured from petroleum byproducts. Do you see where we are going with this? That’s right, there is a direct correlation between the cost of our sprinkler parts and the cost of oil. 

Scroll forward to today and it’s a totally different world my friends. The price of gasoline has stabilized to well under $3.00 per gallon. Gone is the consumer with an endless supply of disposable income. The supply of sprinkler parts is high, the demand for sprinkler systems is low. New homes construction is down. The cost of everything has bottomed out. It truly is a buyers market. Homes, automobiles, and yes , even automatic lawn sprinkler systems, all are at rock bottom prices.

So if you’re in the market for an automatic lawn sprinkler system and think that you cannot afford it, think again, you may be pleasantly surprised! Call EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Springfield Va. today and get the lush, green lawn and landscape you deserve!

EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Springfield Virginia wants you to know that we are standing by and ready to install your new lawn sprinkler system! EcoLawn Sprinkler System does lawn sprinkler system installations and lawn sprinkler system repairs in Arlington County Virginia, Fairfax County Virginia, Prince William County Virginia, Stafford County Virginia, Spotsylvania County Virginia, Fauquier County Virginia, Loudoun County Virginia, and Montgomery County Maryland. 

EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Springfield Virginia does the following fertilizer injection systems: Fairfax County Virginia fertilizer injection systems and fertigation, Prince William County Virginia fertilizer injection systems and fertigation, Arlington County Virginia fertilizer injection systems and fertigation, Stafford County Virginia Fertilizer injection systems and fertigation, Loudoun County virginia fertizer injection systems and fertigation, Spotsylvania county Virginia fertilizer injection systems and fertigation, and Fauquier County Virginia fertilizer injection systems and fertigation.

Dear Terry, I must tell you of the funniest thing I have seen in quite a while. As you may already know, EcoLawn Sprinkler Company was scheduled to install our new lawn sprinkler system last Thursday. The crew arrived early in the morning at around 7:30 am and worked all day. The only time I saw them not working was during a short lunch break at around 1:00pm. They finished up at around 6:00pm and showed me how to use the sprinkler system shortly thereafter. Everything went perfectly! When my husband Bill arrived home at about 7:30pm, He started to yell at me and question why the sprinkler company did not show up as scheduled and why I did not inform him of this. I told him that EcoLawn did show up and that the job was completed. He did not believe me because there was no evidence of any damage to the lawn or landscape. I have never seen him so embarrassed! Please Terry, tell Herman thanks for the great job. Our neighbors are already asking who did this great work! Sincerely Rachel Addams.  

EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Va. installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Fairfax County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Va. installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Arlington County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Virgina installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Prince William County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Virginia installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Stafford County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Virginia installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Spotsylvania County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Virginias installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Fauquier County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Northern Virginia installs lawn sprinkler systems and repairs lawn sprinkler systems in Loudoun County Virginia. EcoLawn Sprinkler System can install sprinkler systems in all of the above Northern Virginia Counties.

It’s no mass government conspiracy that the availability of fresh water is decreasing everyday, while populations continue to rise along with the demand for water. It’s not as if there are more fresh water sources today than there were a million years ago-there aren’t any new ones to tap into. Some scientists predict that by the year 2050, more than 1 billion people in Asia alone could face massive water shortages.

Over the past number of years, this country has experienced many droughts. In fact, if you looked at a map of thr United States in 2007, it showed 23 states that were experiencing droughts or were on the verge. It’s a challenging game we’re faced with, trying to curtail our use of water while still trying to enjoy the benefits that it brings. However, it’s up to everyone to help do their part, and many organizations are.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) started it’s nationwide WaterSense Program in an effort to help educate consumers to choose water-efficient products. Products stamped with WaterSense’s approval help users reduce their amount of water usage by up to 15% each day.

To further help the cause, Some municipal water districts are offering special rebates which will practically pay for water efficient products either in new installations or to retrofit an existing sprinkler system. Nevada is also offering incentives, allowing builders and contractors who are working on properties that follow Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design(LEED) Standards to purchase construction materials tax free. Other states like Michigan are following similar methods. Meanwhile, some localities are fining homeowners wh fail to adhere to water limits.

With national, regional and local efforts increasingly focused on conservation, one can’t help but ask, “What can the irrigation industry do to help?”

“We’re seeing an overall trend right now of increased awareness about the need to use products that reduce water waste by increasing irrigation efficiency”, says Mike Baron, director of water management at the Toro Company, Irrigation Division, Riverside California. “With the cost of water going up and the increased implementation of tiered rate pricing, there’s a greater interest on the part of the property owners to make those investments to reduce their water costs”. This has been a prevailing sentiment for irrigation manufacturers for a number of years. smart controllers and moisture sensors have become hot items, allowing property owners to irrigate their landscape only when necessary. But there’s more to water efficiency than merely using moisture sensors and ET controllers and operating the system less. If you’re thinking seriously of how you can help your clients cut the amount of water used in their irrigation systems, then you will want to take a step back and really look at how the water is being applied. And where else would you look to get a glimpse of this besides the sprinklers? They are one of the most crucial components in an irrigation system. Apoorly set sprinkler, incorrectly nozzled, can tarnish the water distribution for an entire watering area, wasting countless gallons of water during each irrigation cycle.

Thanks to advances in technology in the last several years, sprinklers have become far more water efficient. Companies such as Rainbird, Hunter, Toro, K-Rain and others have introduced new and improved sprinkler heads, and innovations continue to be made.

“We’ve had 60 years of history where the efficiency of spray systems has been 50% or less efficient because the basic spray technology was limited”, says Jeff Miller, product manager for the Toro Company. “The majority of spray systems in the groung are not very efficient. But that’s all starting to change.”

Wasting Water- Let’s first talk about a common misconception which occurs when jurisdictions suddenly impose water restrictions on it’s residents. This often happens in the summer during a drought when the water supply is constrained. As a result of the water shortage, homeowners might be required to water their properties only one or two days a week. The idea is that this will help conserve water. What these jurisdictions fail to take into account, though, is how homeowners will water these one or two days when they are allowed.

“In areas where they are dictating when to water, Homeowners will set their controllers so they’ll completely douse that area with water”, says Don Mann, sales manager for Rainbird, Tuscon, Arizona.
“That’s not necessarily being water efficient. They’re trying to conserve, and they end up wasting”.

Where most irrigation systems go wrong is a lack of matched precipitation between all of it’s sprinklers. What we mean by “matched precipitation” in the irrigation business is that all of the areas being watered by a zone of sprinklers receives the same rate of water. This rate is what is referred to as the application rate or precipitation rate. When that rate is equal at every location in the watering zone, then matched precipitation is achieved.

A common mistake installers make is when they install a system comprised of nozzles that don’t work together to deliver a matched precipitation rate. This is especially common when installing rotors that don’t have similar arcs. For example, you might find a zone that has one 360 degree rotary sprinkler releasing water at two gallons a minute, and another 90 degree nozzle that’s also releasing water at eight gallons per minute….tbc

Lawn sprinkler system repairs and lawn sprinkler system installations can be performed by EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Springfield Virginia in Fairfax County, Prince William County, Stafford County, Spotsylvania County, Arlington County, Fauquier County and Loudoun County. Call EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Springfield Virginia today at 703-491-6084 to discuss a lawn sprinkler system for your residence or if you require a lawn sprinkler system repair!

The entire April 2010 issue of National Geographic  is dedicated to the topic of “Water”. EcoLawn blog subscribers will really enjoy reading these fascinating articles concerning our planet’s life blood. Different perspectives are laid out which give rise to serious thoughts on managing this precious resource. 

 On a parallel note, the April 2010 Scientific American Magazine includes a special report entitled “Managing Earth’s Future, Solutions for a Finite World”, which also includes discussions on the need for boundaries for freshwater use.

70% of all freshwater use by humans is consumed in agricutural irrigation. Urban landscape irrigation is an extention of this freshwater use. Both periodicals emphasize the importance of new technology in the use of irrigation. Micro sprinklers, soil moisture sensors, and other water conservation devices are all mentioned. These topics hit home because EcoLawn can provide clients with water saving tools incorporated into their home sprinkler systems.

Few rational observers deny the need for boundaries to freshwater use. More controversial is defining where these limits are or what steps to take to constrain ourselves within them.

Another way to describe these boundaries is the concept of peak water. Three different ideas are useful. “Peak Renewable” water  limits are the total renewable flows in a watershed. Many of the world’s  major rivers are already approaching this threshold-when evaporation and consumption surpass natural replenishment from precipitation and other sources. “Peak Nonrenewable” limits apply where human use of water far exceeds natural recharge rates, such as in fossil groundwater basins of the Great Plains, Libya, Northern China, India, and parts of California’s Central Valley. In these basins, an increase in extraction is followed by a leveling off and then a reduction, as the costs and amount of effort needed to acquire the dwindling resource rise- a concept similar to that of peak oil.

“Peak Ecological” water is the idea that for any hydrological system, increasing withdrawals eventually reach the point where any additional economic benefit of taking the water is outweighed by the additional ecological destruction that causes. Although it is difficult to quantify this point accurately, we have clearly passed the point of peak ecological water in many basins around the world where huge damage has occurred including the Aral Sea, the Everglades, the Sacramento-San Joquin Valley and many watersheds in China.

The good news is that the potential for savings, without hurting human health or economic productivity, is vast. Improvements in water-use efficiency are possible in every sector. More food can be grown with less water(and less water contamination) by shifting from conventional flood irrigation to drip irrigation and micro sprinklers, along with more accurately monitoring and managing soil moisture.

Automatic underground lawn sprinkler systems can be installed by EcoLawn Sprinkler System of Springfield Virginia in the cities of Vienna Va., Herndon Va., Catharpin Va., Dale City Va., Dumfries Va., Gainesville Va., Haymarket Va., Lake Ridge Va., Nokesville Va., Occoquan Va., Triangle Va., Woodbridge Va., Annandale Va., Bailey’s Crossroads Va., Bellhaven Va., Burke Va., Centreville Va., Chantilly Va., Dunn Loring Va., Fort Belvoir Va., Fort Hunt Va., Franconia Va., Great Falls Va., Huntington Va., Hybla Valley Va., Lake Barcroft Va., Herndon Va., Linconia Va., Lorton Va., Mantua Va., Mclean Va., Merrifield Va., Mount Vernon Va., Newington Va., oakton Va., Reston Va., Rosehill Va., Seven Corners Va., Springfield Va., Tysons Corner Va., Fairlakes Va., Fairfax Station Va., Vienna Va., Aldie Va., Arcola Va., Ashburn Va., Dulles Va., Leesburg Va., Lovettsville Va., Middleburg Va., Paeonian Springs Va., Potomac Falls Va., Purcellville Va., Round Hill Va., South Riding Va., Sterling Va., Waterford Va., Garrisonville Va., Falmouth Va., Hartwood Va., Stafford Va., and Vienna Va. Irrigation repairs and irrigation system installations can also be performed in the following additional counties of Northern Virginia; Spotsylvania County Va., Fauquier County Va.,  and Arlington County Va.  

That is a great and often asked question Mr. Abdulman; and I would like to take a few moments to discuss this with you, as this information would behoove other new EcoLawn blog readers alike in their quest to water their lawns automatically. While each prospective irrigation client has his or her own theory on when the optimal time for installation is, the fact of the matter is that some seasons are better than others for particular reasons. During the spring season, the soil is much more pliable and damage to the lawn is minimal. In the event there is some damage done to the lawn, seed work can be done successfully during this season. A spring installation also has the advantage of the homeowner being able to “test drive” the system prior to the hot summer weather when usage will be at a peak and problems can lead to a dying lawn and landscape. EcoLawn Sprinkler System includes a one year service agreement with each installation. This means that if your system is installed in April, May, or June, EcoLawn sprinkler System will come out the following spring and turn it back on for you. Summer lawn sprinkler installations are performed at full price and there are no seasonal discounts for installation. Lead time is longer and there possibly could be more lawn damage due to the dry and crumbly soil conditions. Frank Korff suggests you have your lawn sprinkler system installed in spring, as this is when you will receive optimal return on EcoLawn Sprinkler System services and also lawn and landscape damage is kept at a minimum.